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War Room

Mississippi

MS-02 · The only majority-Black congressional district in the state
Situation Report Updated May 29, 2026
MS-02 holds for 2026. Reeves canceled the special session and left it off the call, but says he is coming for it before 2027.

Following the Supreme Court's gutting of VRA Section 2 in Louisiana v. Callais, Mississippi Republicans pushed to redraw Rep. Bennie Thompson's majority-Black 2nd District. Gov. Tate Reeves canceled the planned special session and pointedly left congressional maps out of the call. His reasoning matters: when Mississippi was forced to redraw legislative districts in 2025, Republicans lost their state Senate supermajority, proof that redistricting is not the clean win they assume. But Reeves was explicit about the longer fight, saying he expects the Legislature to redraw congressional, state legislative, and state Supreme Court districts before the 2027 state elections. MS-02 holds for 2026. The fight is 2027, and the work to win it starts now.

Situation report · Updated May 29, 2026
Strategic Intelligence Available Mississippi is tracked in our redistricting intelligence database — district-level vulnerabilities, dummymander opportunities, and strategic action.
The District We're Defending
MS-02 · Holds for 2026 · 2027 fight
Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District
Rep. Bennie Thompson · D · Since 1993
The only majority-Black congressional district in Mississippi. Rep. Thompson has served since 1993, the sole Democratic voice in Mississippi's congressional delegation. Republicans want it gone, and Gov. Reeves says he will redraw it before 2027, but for 2026 the seat holds. Without MS-02, Mississippi sends an all-Republican, all-white delegation despite a 38% Black population.
⏳ 2027 Fight
Census + Context ACS 2023
Black share 63.8% 5.4× national · densest in Deep South
Median household income $47,495 58¢ on the dollar · lowest in audit
Child poverty 37.3% 2.5× national · U.S. 15.2% · MS 24.7%
Median home value $126,300 35% of U.S. median · $234,300 gap
Organizing anchors Bolivar Coahoma Holmes Sunflower Tunica · Yazoo Jackson State · Tougaloo · Alcorn
Recent Coverage
Mississippi Today · Apr 30, 2026
Some Republicans call for Mississippi to gerrymander out state's only majority-Black congressional district →
Democracy Docket · May 2026
VRA Section 2 gutted: what it means for majority-minority districts across the South →
SCOTUSblog · Apr 29, 2026
Supreme Court strikes down redistricting map in major Voting Rights Act case →
Mississippi Free Press · 2026
Bennie Thompson and Delta organizers prepare for the 2027 congressional redraw fight →
What MS-02 Has Delivered for Black Mississippians
30+
Years of Continuous Black Representation
Rep. Bennie Thompson has served MS-02 since 1993 — the only uninterrupted Black congressional representation in state history.
$B
Federal Investment in the Mississippi Delta
As former Chair (2007–2011, 2019–2023) and current Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Thompson secured billions in infrastructure, rural broadband, and community development funds for one of America's poorest regions.
38%
of Mississippi Is Black
One majority-Black district out of four congressional seats is not preference — it is the bare minimum of proportional representation for a state with the highest Black population percentage in the nation.
By the Numbers · MS-02

By The Numbers.

Two census measures that show why MS-02, the only Black-majority congressional district in the country's highest-Black-population state, is the seat Mississippi's leadership has promised to redraw before 2027.

Black Population

Nearly two-thirds of MS-02 residents are Black — 63.8% — making the Delta corridor one of the densest concentrations of Black political power in the country.

The 63.8% Black share is roughly 5.4× the national rate and 1.7× Mississippi's statewide share. It is anchored in Bolivar, Washington, Coahoma, and the Jackson metro — Bennie Thompson's 17-term coalition.

MS-02
63.8%
Mississippi
36.0%
U.S.
11.7%
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates
Black Voting-Age Population

Six in ten MS-02 voting-age residents are Black — ~60% — making this seat one of the densest concentrations of Black political eligibility in the country, and the only Mississippi district where Black voters meaningfully choose their own representative.

Bennie Thompson holds this seat in his 17th term because the Black voting-age population is more than half the electorate. A 2027 redraw would crack it specifically because that concentration is what makes Black congressional representation possible in Mississippi, and the state's leadership has said openly that ending it is the goal.

MS-02
~60%
Mississippi
~34%
U.S.
~12%
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates · BVAP
Sources & Methodology

Population, voting-age population (VAP), and Black voting-age population (BVAP): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Partisan lean (PVI) and race ratings: Cook Political Report, with district-level updates following the 2026 redraw cycle. Voter registration and file data: Mississippi Secretary of State public records, supplemented by commercial voter files from Catalist, L2, and TargetSmart. Polling and electoral analysis: Blue Rose Research, Equis Research, Pew Research Center, and Sabato's Crystal Ball (UVA Center for Politics). Map status, special-session timeline, and litigation: Mississippi legislative records, federal and state court filings, and published positions from NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Mississippi Center for Justice. Field intelligence: relayed from named partner organizations through coalition coordination; reflects current operating conditions rather than peer-reviewed analysis.